Massaahhhhge.

It's been a long week, I'm sure you can relate. I know I'm in for it when I consider it a good day if I've only cried once. I had 2 "good" days this week...Luckily it passed, as it always does, and Saturday rolled around again. Not only has it been crazy around here, but I've been feeling like a mangy mutt and needed a little pick-me-up. I remember the transformation our dog Bailey went through when she had pups. She started out as a spunky, shiny black Lab and after having her litter she had a gray beard, a jiggly belly, saggy teats, and dull fur that had patches of mange and patches of near baldness. Sound familiar? Luckily most of us escape childbearing without all of these problems, but the parallels are frightening. And since I've had 3 kids in a 2 year span of time, and only an 8 month break between nursing Dawson and getting pregnant with the twins, I'm looking and feeling more like the "after" version of Bailey. So I was beyond happy that I had scheduled a massage for this morning. It was a Christmas gift from Todd and I was cashin' in. I asked for family pictures as my gift and Todd is usually good about that kind of stuff. If I choose to do something like that then he doesn't feel obligated to buy stuff just to stick under the tree. But this year he was sneaky and when I opened my present it was a gift certificate for a massage "from the weasels." The kids clearly don't have jobs though, so of course I have him to thank for that heavenly hour today. I've only had 2 massages, but as I was lying there I thought to myself "maybe if we don't feed the kids one night a week I can use that money to get a massage once a month..." The massage therapist at Incognito is amazing (by the way, thanks Siri for getting all of us hooked on that place!). If I remember right, she use to do medical massages at St. Luke's or something, so you leave not only relaxed, but repaired. It's serious business, she works out those kinks like a large Swedish woman with man-hands would (she looks nothing like this, thank goodness). So after I left there, limp as a wet noodle, I decided to get myself a little treat. Hey, I was downtown anyway, so why not stop at Madeleine's? I found a great parking spot, jetted in and came out with a smile, a bag of goodness, and the hopes of continuing my blissful morning. I was most excited about the chocolate torte. It's called "Midnight Sin" but of course I didn't have any intention of waiting until midnight to eat it. And as for the sinful part, if it's wrong, then I don't want to be right. When I got home, all heck was breaking loose, but I didn't care. I'd actually missed everyone even though I'd only been gone for 2 hours. Amazing what a little time away can do. So thanks Babe for letting me out of the asylum for a little while! I think it makes me a better Mom and wife, and it makes him a better husband because he understands what kind of mayhem I deal with all day and why I sometimes have that glazed over look when he gets home. And by the way, I did share the treats with Todd and the kids. Be honest, if you know me you were wondering if I was going to eat it all myself.

Smitten Kitten

This was such an ordinary moment, but so precious at the same time. Freshly bathed, new jammies, nothing special, but these boys completely melt my heart - I am one smitten kitten. I just put them down for the night and looking at these pictures is making me miss them. Their sweet buttermilk breath, that soft skin, that silky hair...I know there are a LOT of pictures here, but I just couldn't pick a few, I like all of them. I love how each shot is just a tiny bit different, and since there's two of them I like to take a bunch in a row so I can catch each of their expressions. No wonder God gave me both of them, how could he possibly pick just one?

Poor Mitchy. Charlie was actually belly laughing and had no idea he'd hooked his poor brother, at least I don't think he knew...perhaps this baby is more sinister than we originally thought.

Charlie is sucking on Mitch's fingers

Extreme Makeover, Courtesy of Ella and Dawson

The kids have been asking if they can put makeup on me, and every time they ask I've just gotten out of the shower and we're on a tight schedule to get the day rolling so Ella can get to school. So I finally thought of it the other day when we didn't have to get out the door, and before I showered - clearly I was going to need one after they got a hold of me. I don't have a ton of makeup in a bunch of fun colors, so they were a little disappointed and kept asking for lipstick and eyeshadow, but they used some interesting products in some interesting places. I looked like I was in drag. They applied a liberal amount of blush to their own little faces too. Ella asked me to paint her nails and of course Dawson always wants to join in. Thank goodness he has some brothers now or Ella will have him turned into her little protege' in no time. I loved putting makeup and nail polish on my Grandpa when I was young, my Dad use to let us torture him too (hey, that gives me an idea, maybe Todd should be on the receiving end of the next "'makeover"). My Grandpa would even let me cut his hair! I wasn't supposed to tell my Grandma that, I was sworn to secrecy, but something tells me she may have had her suspicions. I can't imagine a haircut performed by an 8 year old wouldn't be obvious.

Another day...

...another load.

Charlie is such a stinker, he reminds me so much of Dawson as a baby. If I can't hold him then I better at least have him close enough that he can see me, or else. So this is how I fold laundry, if I'm not doing it one-handed while I'm nursing. And man do I fold a lot of laundry. Honestly, I love folding all the teeny-tiny clothes and socks. I used to pray for loads of laundry with onesies and blankies and itty bitty jammies in it. I've shed a lot of happy tears over laundry just thanking God for his goodness and faithfulness to me by blessing me with my kids. The only problem now is that the itty-bitty stuff isn't as itty-bitty as it used to be, all of my babies are growing up way too fast.

Mommy and Me Time

Dawson decided to outgrow naps this summer, right around the time the twins were born (perfect timing). But I don't like to say it out loud because it makes it real and I prefer to pretend that he will nap again soon, he's just taken a 7 month hiatus. It was a good run, Ella stopped napping by her 1st birthday so I'm not complaining. Speaking of naps, I finally got the babies on the same schedule, for the most part (can I get a hallelujah). Until they turned 7 months they had opposing naps. One would wake up j u s t as the other one went down. You'd think they would just do the same thing, I mean they're twins right? But they are different little people, and Charlie was a cat-napper, so he took shorter naps but more often than Mitch. But now I can pretty much count on them taking a morning nap (although I have to wake the poor little guys up to take Ella to school) and an afternoon nap. They deviate a little here and there by 30 or 40 minutes, but we're definitely getting there. So afternoon nap time for the twins has become Mommy and Dawson time. NO MATTER WHAT, I am all his. We usually play cars and trucks, look at the tools in the garage (more to come about this obsession), bake, play a game, do flashcards, play outside... So the other day I asked him what he wanted to do for play time and he said "I wanna snuggle on the couch." Now this isn't totally out of character for Dawson, but if he does want to spend his special time cuddling it's usually after we've done some good playin'. So I got us a pillow and one of the big, soft blankies, then he laid down on my chest (in my mind, heaven is something like this). We talked for a while, I stroked his hair, he sucked his thumb, and then...he fell asleep. Just like that, in my arms, like the sweet baby boy he is. He stayed there until Todd got home, who I immediately asked to snap this picture so I could see his little face, all snuggled in my arms. Don't you wish you could bottle those moments up and just take a few out when you need 'em?

Boy Oh Boy!

Living every girl's dream...I'm surrounded by cute boys all day. How did I get so lucky?